Ike Comes to Missouri!

Instead of beginning this post with how our week started, I decided to start with how the week ended since it was way more exciting! You know that little hurricane called Ike? Well, he found his way to Missouri. There’s a small creek at the back of the campground, and the staff came around Sat. to those of us in the lower areas to warn of the impending rain and possible rising of the creek. The concern was that if the Meramec River floods, it will back up here. Evidently this has happened in the past. Two of the rigs behind us (and slightly closer to the creek) moved to higher ground, but we decided to stay put and see what happened. We unhooked the sewer and the water Sat. afternoon so we could move the rig quickly if need be. We heard the rain start about 2:30 a.m. and by 6:30 the creek was starting to rise. Normally we can’t see it from our rig, but we saw it real good Sat.! The creek began rising very quickly so we made preparations to pull out and move to higher ground. We anchored things down, pulled in the slides, disconnected the electric, and waited. But soon the rain slowed, and the water actually started to recede. We were amazed at how fast this “little creek” was flowing as it carried huge logs away. Below are pictures of the Pet Area sign during the flood and after to give you an idea how high the water came. Of course we realize how lucky we are because we have many friends who were in Ike's path down in Houston and have prayed for their safety and minimal damage.









Now back to the beginning of our very busy week. It started last Sat. with Scott and me going to Eureka Days, an annual event that this year celebrated Eureka’s 150th anniversary. The event was complete with a parade, carnival rides, beer garden, miniature train rides, dozens of vendors, and so much more. It was to begin at 11am, but when we arrived about 5 min. after the hour, we found the place packed. We didn’t realize the parade had begun at 10, but finally found a parking spot. We watched the end of the parade, checked out the vendors (even entering a couple drawings for gas cards!), got something to eat, and just enjoyed the festive atmosphere. Later that evening Russ, Scott, and I drove to Hot Shots Sports Bar & Grill to watch the pay-per-view Mizzou game against Southeast Missouri State. Mizzou was up 42-0 at the half so we headed home.

The next day was the scheduled “Birthday BBQ” at Dana’s house. We’ve been friends since high school, and we had talked last year about how we never get to celebrate our birthdays together. I’m always teasing them by reminding them that they could all get together since they all live in the same city, but seems it takes me coming to town for that to happen. (Gloria calls me the long distance coordinator.) So I found out everyone’s schedule to pick the best day, coordinated plans with Dana, and suggested a potluck. I brought Mardi Gras beads for everyone, and though gifts were not on the agenda, as you can guess, there were some. Dana has a beautiful home, and we had such a great time opening presents, eating, talking, sharing, and before we knew it 5 hours had passed!


Mon. was chore day around the coach, but that night I visited River Blenders Chorus, and Dana and Gloria decided to meet me at the rehearsal site. I don’t believe they really had any idea what Sweet Adelines was all about, and I was delighted to share with them the organization I’ve been involved with for nearly 13 years. In case you don’t remember from last year’s post, the River Blenders are a large chorus of nearly 100 women, who placed 2nd at last year’s Regional contest, and scored high enough to receive wildcard status to compete in the 2008 International Competition in Hawaii this Nov. They are directed by the fabulous Master Director, Diane Huber. Diane has been a Sweet Adeline for over 30 years, a chorus and quartet coach, a Queen of Harmony (quartet champion) with Ambiance, and Past President of Sweet Adelines Intl. She is bubbly, vivacious, fun, and extremely gracious. I participated in the physical and vocal warm-ups (that’s me in the dark blue shirt on the first row riser in photo at right), and then I sat back down to watch. About 15 min. into rehearsal, everyone was asked to come off the risers, and I figured they were going to practice coming onstage or something. Obviously we missed the first part of what was said because what they wanted everyone to do was head downstairs because there was a tornado warning!! Sweet Adelines are nothing if not flexible, and rehearsal continued in the basement until the warning passed. They did a beautiful, moving rendition of You Are My Sunshine, and when they broke into the theme from Fame, Gloria and Dana looked at me in amazement. I don’t think they had any idea modern music was performed by Sweet Adelines! Once we were able to move back upstairs, they began learning the choreo for Fame and worked on their contest songs. It was such a joy to see Diane and the chorus again, and I wish them all the best in Hawaii.

Tues. found us heading to Russ’ brother’s farm in Wentzville. We took the dogs with us, and they got to play with their “cousin” Dakota for a bit before being put in one of the outdoor kennels. We toured part of the farm with Ron and Jackie starting at their pond where Ron fishes from his docked pontoon boat that he named after his fishing buddy who passed away last year. This spot is very peaceful, and Ron says that’s what he loves about it. He can get away from everything and has everything he needs. As Russ and Jackie walked around the grounds, Ron took me onboard and cast the line for me. After a few attempts I actually caught a fish! He released it back, recast the line, and I caught another one! At least I don’t think it was the same fish. :-) Our tour continued over to see the cows and their newest calf shown here with his mother. He’s only a month old and weighed 95 lbs. when born! Back at the house, Jackie showed me her beautiful garden where she enjoys spending lots of time. She has dozens of rose bushes, a couple tomato plants, a gorgeous bed of mums, and some lovely dahlias. After visiting for awhile, we went to dinner at Rizzo’s Italian Restaurant, then came back to the house and chatted some more. It was a long but very pleasant day.










Since last year we had been telling Scott about Lombardo’s Restaurant (http://www.lombardosrestaurants.com/) and promised to take him while in town, and that’s where we journeyed on Wed. As usual we sat in the bar and after ordering a couple drinks, started with the calzone, followed by the toasted ravioli. Scott seemed to enjoy both, and took Russ’ recommendation to try the turtle soup, which he thought was pretty yummy. We topped the meal by sharing one of their famous and delicious pizzas. (For more on the restaurant and food, you can check our blog post dated Aug. 23, 2007.) Owners Carmen and Angelo were both working and we enjoyed visiting with them again. As the conversation progressed, the topic came around to the St. Louis Rams. Carmen mentioned that he had a couple extra tickets for Sunday’s game and asked if we’d like to have them. Neither of us have ever attended a Rams game, and since our calendar was open that day, we gladly accepted!

The next day Denise and Karen picked me up for lunch. As you may recall from last year, Denise has been my sister's best friend since they were in grade school. Karen, and her husband Mark, have also been friends of hers since the same time so I've known all of them for years and consider them my friends, too. I hadn’t seen Mark and Karen in about 10 years and was looking forward to catching up, but Mark had to work at the last minute so couldn’t make it. We ate lunch at the Blue Water Grill located in Kirkwood, MO, sharing a carafe of sangria, and then walked around checking out all the quaint little shops and the farmer’s market surrounding the old Amtrak station. The time flew by and soon it was time to head home, but it was so good to spend time with them. Hopefully Mark can make it next time.

Steve’s wife, Patty, and I decided to go to the movies Fri. to see Mamma Mia! What a great, fun movie! We both have wanted to see it and seems neither of us has anyone to really go see those types of movies with. We had a blast and decided next time we needed to see the sing-along version! Then on Sat. we drove to Steve and Patty’s house to watch the Mizzou/Nevada game on TV. John showed up, too, so it was a great excuse for the Mizzou roomies to visit some more. Lots of munchies, drinks, and good game…Tigers won 69-17…what better way to end the week!

And now we’re back to where I started….Sun....and time for some Rams football. After being sure the RV was not going to be flooded or washed away, we headed downtown to watch the Eli Manning and World Champion NY Giants run over the Rams. Yeah, we got clobbered 41-13, but it was fun to see a pro game in person. When we told Carmen where our seats had been for the Mizzou game, he said his were towards the endzone, too, but a few rows lower. Little did we know they were only 5 rows from the field! I’ll say that was lower! It was the home opener, and the fans were definitely ready for some football. Rams baseball hats were distributed to everyone in attendance, Ozzie Smith announced the starting lineup as fireworks exploded, and cheerleaders waved Rams flags. Tributes were done throughout the game to honor Georgia Frontiere who passed away in Jan. and who brought football back to St. Louis by moving her Rams team from L.A. to here. Carmen and his wife, Ruth, arrived about game time, and I enjoyed meeting Ruth and chatting with her as she was fascinated by our new lifestyle. Even though our team lost and they've got lots of work to be done, we enjoyed the experience. Of course, we would have enjoyed it even more had things not fallen apart in the 4th quarter. Oh, well, there’s always next week.